Many years ago, when Aharnish Mishra and Manideep Chhokra chucked up lucrative jobs in a software company, their plan was simple: they were going to set up a coffee roasting facility. Common enough in the south, it’s virtually unheard of in Delhi. Today, Finca Specialty Coffee supplies freshly roasted beans in a choice of five…
Roast turkey, plum pudding, mince pies and Christmas carols may be a part of Christmas in England. And closer home, hotels that advertise their Christmas dinners stick to the traditional roast. But who do they target? In a nutshell, those who don’t celebrate the 25th of December as a religious belief, but want to participate…
Few things are as pleasant as sitting out under the sun on a Sunday afternoon in winter, sipping champagne and going through the one meal of the week that doesn’t have to be hurried. It’s what residents of other metros like best about Delhi – winter, and our determination to enjoy it to the fullest.…
International House of Pancakes comes to our neighbourhood Serves American breakfast Atmospherics: in the perpetually bursting-at-the-seams Cyber Hub, the newest entrant is causing waves: no mean feat. Whether or not you have managed to bag a table at IHOP is determined by your luck. I was curious enough about this phenomenon to check it out…
A tiny piece of Paris in our city Café with patisserie and sandwiches Atmospherics: Every food critic dreams of walking through some random door and having the meal of their lives. Well, that wish was granted not too long ago, when I walked into a lipstick-pink door that said Cravity, and spent the next hour…
Version 2 is every bit as good as the original Serves: sushi, South East Asian, pizzas, western, Indian Atmospherics: Unlike the Khan Market branch that sprawls across several levels, this one is far more compact and is arranged on a single floor, around a central bar. Seating is on sofas and comfortable dining chairs around…
Chi is the latest restaurant to hit town. In the popular Safdarjung Development Area market, next to Masala Junction, it is a cool hangout place with a South East Asian menu serving meals and snacks. Noodles and noodle soups are what their claim to fame is, but there are starters and main courses too for…
I’m going to resist the temptation to write (yet again) about Choko la’s pastries, chocolates and chocolate drinks. They’re not only the best in the city, the chocolate drinks are more or less unique. However, I’ve always had a problem with the food that both branches of Choko la served – to me, the food…
I’m quite fond of the eclectic mix of restaurants that form the Kasbah complex in New Delhi’s Greater Kailash, but it is usually Café de Paris that I head for. This time, however, I was warned by fellow foodies not to miss the biryani festival taking place at Zaffran, their North Indian restaurant. Presided over…
A decade ago, a publisher had contacted me. He wanted to do a book of recipes from a sprinkling of royal households. I raided my address book and those of my friends, to come up with names of princely states and small heritage homes who would part with a few recipes. Or, at the very least,…